Thursday, May 31, 2012

It was not the kind of house that would garner much attention these days.

Not many windows. No garage.

Not large enough for the family living in it to have their own private spaces.

No open floor plan.

Likely no gleaming modern kitchen.

Doubtful there was central air to cool its interior during steamy Tidewater summers

Probably less chance it stayed warm during damp and chilly Tidewater winters.

Except this little cottage had one thing no other house had: pink shutters.

But not only pink shutters framing the windows;
there was also a pink-flowering mimosa tree blooming in the front lawn.

Someone loved that worn little home.
The splashes of pink paint
that were carefully coordinated to the mimosa's pink blossoms
revealed a commitment to artistic sensibility in the face of limited means.
That and confidence in one's own taste, I would say.

And once seeing a mimosa's fine leaves and delicate flower puffs,
who could not understand this homeowner's painterly homage to mimosa pink?
The leaves themselves convey a certain sensitivity.
They are open in daylight,

but around mid-May to early June here in the Shire,
and other southern places,
the slender, ovate flower buds become visible:

It doesn't take long for the flowers to open fully.
And they reward those who have waited for them
with a perfume worthy of Eden, Nirvana, and Jannah.
But they only last a little while.
Like long-forgotten southern mansions,
their beauty remains, if a bit shabby at the edges:

I think the reason towns from California to Colorado,
Arkansas to Virginia, Texas to Minnesota and more
have taken the name Magnolia
is because people want to associate themselves
with its unique presence and reliable beauty.
And it is a nostalgic flower, reminiscent of times past--
times when it seemed easier to claim certitude about life and the way to live it.

For all the reasons people love the magnolia,
whether for moonlit fantasies or fabled Southern charms,
Creamy white magnolia flowers are a sweet reward for living in the South.